pixiv
74
Quality Score
Strong
✍️ Bumetric analysis
“
pixiv is an iOS app from pixiv Inc. in the Social Networking category, currently rated 4.5★ across 6,564 ratings. Initial signal reads as largely positive sentiment, users highlighting consistency and feature depth.
Quality Score is 74: Strong (healthy traction). For a Social Networking app, that means healthy traction. The full BU Investment Matrix below scores 8 dimensions including monetisation, growth, and operational risk.
Track changes month-over-month in the Performance section below: live snapshot history and revenue forecast included.
💰 Monthly revenue · now vs forecast
● Right now
$3.5M
per month
→
12-mo forecast
$3.7M – $5.7M
per month
→
24-mo forecast
$4.4M – $8.2M
per month
BIG tier
💡 Grow this revenue
Free AI audit of this app’s store listing
- Title & subtitle keyword fit
- Description hook & conversion structure
- Screenshots, ratings, reviews strategy
Typical impact: +2-5× organic installs
📊 Performance Tracking LIVE
283 snapshots on record
Rating
4.5
Reviews
6,564 reviews
Forecast Revenue / mo
$3.5M
Snapshots tracked
283
since Jul 2020
🤖Also on Android
$218/mo · 195K ratings · 3.9★
View →
ONE-TIME · BUILD
💰 Estimated build cost
$215K
↳ What it cost to build · not monthly revenue
Likely range $160K – $290K
$25K · MVP floor
$100K · indie scale
$500K+ · studio build
📈
Pays back in under a month at current MRR
Synthetic estimate. Inputs: category complexity, file size, screen count, monetization layer, platform reach, age × team-size proxy. Calibrated against 2024-2026 indie-agency rate surveys. Full math + source list on /methodology.
Where the money goes
| 🧱 MVP baseline (design + 1-store ship) | +$28K |
| 📱 5 unique screens × $4.5K | +$22K |
| 📦 Asset bundle (93 MB) | +$17K |
| ⚙ Social Networking complexity ×1.70 | +$47K |
| ⚙ 16.8y maintenance × ~1-person team | +$100K |
Total estimate
$215K
ONE-TIME · EXIT VALUE
💵 Estimated acquisition value
$71.5M
↳ What it would sell for · not monthly revenue
Marketplace range $53.5M – $93.0M · 20× MRR multiple
💸
~333× return on build cost
Synthetic estimate. Multiple band derived from ad-supported + age, rating quality, category demand, and user-base maturity. Calibrated against 2024-2026 indie-app-marketplace closed-deal medians. Full math + comparable deal list on /methodology.
How the multiple was built
| 📺 Ad-supported base | 15× MRR |
| 📅 16.8y proven track record | +20% |
| ⭐ ★ rating ≥ 4.4 (solid) | +8% |
| 🏷 Social Networking category multiple | +5% |
Final multiple
20× MRR
👥 Estimated audience size
410K
Lifetime downloads (US-equivalent)
Monthly active
20K
Daily active
11K
Synthetic estimate from ratings × category benchmarks. Calibrated against 2024-2026 mobile-attribution retention + DAU/MAU reports. Numbers are US-storefront-equivalent — true global audience can be 5-10× larger for international apps. Full math + source list on /methodology.
How we sized it
| 📲 Social Networking engagement | ~90 installs / rating |
| 📅 16.8y of rating accumulation | -30% |
| 🔁 Social Networking D30 retention | 25% |
| 📍 DAU / MAU stickiness | 0.55 |
DAU / MAU
54% sticky
🛠 Estimated tech stack
🍎
Native iOS (Swift / UIKit)
Medium confidence · 60%
Also possible
React Native
Flutter
Heuristic guess from app bundle size, category, store description signals, and release-date stack era. Bumetric does not disassemble binaries — for binary-level certainty you would need an SDK intelligence tool or the manifest itself. Reasoning chain on the right. Full ruleset on /methodology.
Signals we read
| 📦 App bundle size | 93 MB |
| 🏷 Category context | Social Networking |
| 📦 Mid-large iOS bundle | → Likely native Swift / UIKit (pre-2020 era) |
💀 Maintenance status
Active
5%
Last shipped 2026-08-28 · 26 days ago
0 · Active
50 · At risk
100 · Abandoned
Heuristic risk score from time-since-last-update + ratings velocity proxy + Editor's Choice / curated featuring signals. Calibrated against 2024-2025 app-store ranking decay reports. Not a guarantee — a quiet app with a healthy codebase looks the same as an abandoned one until something breaks. Full math on /methodology.
Risk signals
| 📅 26 days since last update | Active development |
Verdict
Active
🔬
How we forecast this revenue
MEDIUM CONFIDENCEBaseline
$3.5M/mo · ML-estimated from 234 triggers
Growth rate
+2.5% MoM · BIG tier baseline (compound monthly)
6 months
$3.5M – $4.7M
12 months
$3.7M – $5.7M
24 months
$4.4M – $8.2M
Compound growth at +2.5% MoM (tier baseline for BIG). Range widens with horizon — typical noise band ±15% at 6mo.. Ranges widen with horizon — distant futures carry more uncertainty.
📊
BU Investment Matrix
Mixed signals · 59/100BIG TIERcompetitive but cautiousGrowth Velocity
5.0
Founder Strength
6.7
Product Quality
8.1
Revenue Strength
6.5
Monetization Maturity
1.0
Defensibility
7.5
Market Position
2.0
Operational Safety
10.0
- 💰 Revenue: Healthy — $1.4M - $7.7M/mo · BIG tier · medium-low confidence, trajectory unclear.
- ⭐ Quality: 4.49★ across 6,564 reviews — strong (top 10%).
- 📍 Market: Not yet charting in any of the 9 monitored markets.
- 📈 Growth: Insufficient signal to assess trajectory.
- ⚠️ Risk: Low — no material risk signals detected.
🎯 For competitors: Mixed picture. Worth competing if you have a clear UX or pricing edge — otherwise crowded segment.
💵 For acquirers: Estimated asking range 18-32× monthly = $63.0M-$112.0M.
Composite of 8 dimensions computed deterministically from public signals — no LLM, every score traces back to a measurable input. Default weights shown; "compete" / "acquire" / "invest" lenses re-weight without re-fetching.
Range:
💰 Forecast Revenue / mo
MODELRevenue forecast computed from BU's 234 trigger model on each snapshot. Calibrated against ground-truth from 58 verified-revenue apps.
🔬Forecast Breakdown — Why This Estimate?Top 13 of 13 triggers
Our ML model uses 200+ signals from public data. These are the most influential for this app:
| subscriptionREVIEW | +$2,500 | |
| premiumREVIEW | +$2,200 | |
| bugsREVIEW | −$1,800 | |
| 5 starREVIEW | +$1,800 | |
| Low install base (6,564 ratings)METRIC | +$1,500 | |
| Mature app (16y old)METRIC | +$1,500 | |
| highly recommendREVIEW | +$1,400 | |
| slowREVIEW | −$1,200 | |
| annoying adsREVIEW | −$1,100 | |
| too expensiveREVIEW | −$1,000 | |
| Good rating (4.5★)METRIC | +$800 | |
| Ad-supported / freemiumMETRIC | +$600 | |
| Localized (7 languages)METRIC | +$600 |
METRIC = structural app data · REVIEW = mined from user reviews · ✓ VERIFIED = Stripe-verified anchor (TrustMRR)
📈 Reviews Growth
LIVECumulative review count from first BU snapshot. Each point = a tracked update.
⭐ Rating Trend
LIVEAverage rating evolution. Updates with each new review batch.
🆕 What's New · v8.8.1
* Bug fixes & improvements
Profile & Insights
Everything we know — and don't — about this app and its company.
Identification
- App name
- pixiv
- Developer
- pixiv Inc.
- Bundle ID
- net.pxv.iphone
- App Store URL
- Open in App Store
- Category
- Social Networking
- Content rating
- 17+
- Languages
- EN, JA, KO, MS, ZH, TH, ZH
Company
- Website
- Not found
- Tagline
- Today
- Description
- Find apps and games for iPhone, iPad, Mac, and more on the App Store.
- Founded
- Not found
- HQ / Address
- Not found
- Employees
- Not found
- Logo
- Available
Revenue
- Reported revenue signal / mo
- Not found
- AI revenue estimate / mo
- Not found
- AI annual estimate
- Not found
- Model estimate / mo
- $3.5M/mo
- Top-grossing rank
- 🇯🇵#26 /100
- All-time revenue
- Not found
- Pricing
- Not found
Founder
Founder data not yet collected for this app.
Funding
Funding data not yet collected for this app.
Press & Links
Press & Links data not yet collected for this app.
Contacts & Socials
Contacts & Socials data not yet collected for this app.
📈Ratings growth6,643 ratings+1304% lifetimeShow 3-year history estimate ▾
Tracked (60 weeks) Pre-tracking estimate (0 weeks) · model-based, ±5% noise · anchored to release date and current value
🗺️Geographic Distribution1 of 9 markets
🇯🇵
JP
Top-grossing rank: #26 / 100
Other markets
Outside top 100
in US, GB, DE, FR, JP, CA, AU, BR, IN
in US, GB, DE, FR, JP, CA, AU, BR, IN
This app currently ranks in only one of the 9 markets we monitor. Niche or regional apps often launch this way before global rollout. Rankings update daily.
📊Category Rank Trajectory#26 now · best #26 · worst #26
Lower line = better rank · Estimate from ratings growth model · Lower position on chart = worse rank · Higher = top of chart
🚀Update Frequency · Releases per Quarter9 releases tracked
🚀Version Release Timeline8 releases tracked
Profile is built from iTunes Lookup + developer site scrape + ML revenue model. Empty fields show "Not found" — additional sources (Crunchbase, X, IndieHackers, Acquire.com) coming.
📝 About this app
Over 160 million illustrations, manga, and novels to explore right now!
This is the official iOS app of pixiv, Japan's largest creative community with over 119 million registered users.
With this app, you can easily discover and enjoy amazing works anytime, anywhere.
pixiv is a platform designed to "accelerate creativity".
From anime and manga to fine art, creators from all backgrounds share their work here.
Start exploring and find your next favorites today!
■ About pixiv
▶ Illustrations
○ Browse
Discover illustrations posted every day,
and enjoy them in high quality!
○ Post… View full description on the official store →
This is the official iOS app of pixiv, Japan's largest creative community with over 119 million registered users.
With this app, you can easily discover and enjoy amazing works anytime, anywhere.
pixiv is a platform designed to "accelerate creativity".
From anime and manga to fine art, creators from all backgrounds share their work here.
Start exploring and find your next favorites today!
■ About pixiv
▶ Illustrations
○ Browse
Discover illustrations posted every day,
and enjoy them in high quality!
○ Post… View full description on the official store →
App Specs
🔐 Own this app? Claim & verify MRR →💾 93 MB🔞 17+📱 iOS 16.0+🔖 v8.8.1🔄 updated 3w ago🌐 EN, JA, KO, MS, ZH +2📂 Social Networking💰 Paid🚀 Launched 2009 (16y old)
📅
What Worked™ · Development Pipeline
22 EVENTS TRACKEDDetected changes in this app over its tracked lifetime — each event links cause (what changed) to effect (what moved). Sorted newest first.See full history →Version history →
2026-08
🔧
Shipped update — v8.7.2 → v8.8.1
→ 30 days after: reviews +19 high confidence
2026-07
🔧
Shipped update — v8.7.1 → v8.7.2
→ 30 days after: reviews +26 high confidence
2026-06
🔧
Shipped update — v8.6.12 → v8.7.1
→ 30 days after: revenue +$16.3K/mo · reviews +33 high confidence
2026-06
🔧
Shipped update — v8.6.11 → v8.6.12
→ 30 days after: revenue +$16.3K/mo · reviews +33 medium · co-occurring
2026-06
🔧
Shipped update — v8.6.10 → v8.6.11
→ 30 days after: reviews +27 medium · co-occurring
2026-06
🔧
Shipped update — v8.6.9 → v8.6.10
→ 30 days after: reviews +31 medium · co-occurring
2026-05
🔧
Shipped update — v8.6.7 → v8.6.9
→ 30 days after: reviews +31 medium · co-occurring
2026-05
🔧
Shipped update — v8.6.6 → v8.6.7
→ 30 days after: reviews +30 medium · co-occurring
2026-05
🔄
Monetization changed: freemium → free
→ 30 days after: reviews +23 medium · co-occurring
2026-03
⭐
Rating ↑ 2.84 → 4.40 (improved 1.56★)
2026-03
📈
Crossed 1,000 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
2026-02
📈
Crossed 500 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: rating +1.56★ · reviews +6,014 high confidence
2021-09
📈
Crossed 100 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: reviews +8 medium · co-occurring
2021-09
📈
Crossed 100 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: reviews +11 medium · co-occurring
2021-02
📈
Crossed 50 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: reviews +6 high confidence
2021-02
📈
Crossed 50 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: rating +0.05★ · reviews +13 high confidence
2020-10
⭐
Rating ↓ 4.28 → 3.92 (dropped 0.36★)
→ 30 days after: rating +0.08★ · reviews +5 high confidence
2020-08
📈
Crossed 10 ratings — social-proof flywheel kicking in
→ 30 days after: rating −0.05★ · reviews +6 medium · co-occurring
2020-08
⭐
Rating ↓ 5.00 → 4.33 (dropped 0.67★)
→ 30 days after: rating −0.05★ · reviews +6 medium · co-occurring
2020-08
⭐
Rating ↓ 4.70 → 4.36 (dropped 0.34★)
→ 30 days after: rating −0.72★ · reviews +17 low · multiple changes
🌍
Multi-Country Performance
Available in 9 of 9 monitored markets| Market | Rating | Reviews | Current version |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇦🇺 AU | 4.63579★ | 324 | 4.63579★ this version |
| 🇧🇷 BR | 4.68902★ | 164 | 4.68902★ this version |
| 🇨🇦 CA | 4.42695★ | 616 | 4.42695★ this version |
| 🇩🇪 DE | 4.37557★ | 221 | 4.37557★ this version |
| 🇫🇷 FR | 4.65179★ | 224 | 4.65179★ this version |
| 🇬🇧 GB | 4.38389★ | 323 | 4.38389★ this version |
| 🇮🇳 IN | 4.74026★ | 77 | 4.74026★ this version |
| 🇯🇵 JP | 4.72579★ | 201,251 | 4.72579★ this version |
| 🇺🇸 US | 4.48775★ | 6,653 | 4.48775★ this version |
🔔
Track this app’s revenue
FREEGet an email when revenue moves by your threshold. No spam, unsubscribe in one click.
📝 Description
95
BU Score · Transcendent
Full revenue analysis
Read the article-style breakdown for pixiv: category rank, percentile, growth signal, comparable apps, and how the forecast is calibrated against verified-MRR anchors in this niche.
More by pixiv Inc.
View all →📦 Portfolio summaryBIG studio
6apps·$7.9M/mocombined
✓ Diversified — top app contributes 44%; risk spread across portfolio
About this analysis
Why medium confidence: 6,564 ratings · no founder-verified revenue (model estimate only).
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
10 answers · auto-generated from this app's public dataHow much does pixiv make per month?▴
Based on our ML-calibrated revenue forecast, pixiv earns approximately $3.5M/mo. This is a US-storefront-equivalent estimate; global revenue can be several times larger for internationally-distributed apps. See the methodology page for the full formula and confidence bands.
Is pixiv profitable?▴
With estimated build cost $215K and monthly revenue $3.5M, pixiv looks highly profitable — pays back its build investment in under a month at the current run-rate. Profitability also depends on paid-acquisition spend and refund rate which the public model doesn't see.
How many users does pixiv have?▴
Estimated audience: ~410K lifetime downloads, ~20K monthly active users, and ~11K daily active users. Derived from ratings count × category installs-per-rating × age decay. US-storefront-equivalent — global audience can be 5-10× larger for internationally-distributed apps.
What apps are like pixiv?▴
Browse the full Social Networking category catalog to find similar apps with revenue, build cost, audience and tech stack data. Each /p/{slug} page also shows a Compare side-by-side widget with three peer apps from the same niche.
What is pixiv built with?▴
Our heuristic places pixiv on the Native iOS (Swift / UIKit) stack (Medium confidence, 60%). Signals: app bundle size, category context, store-description markers, release-date era. We don't disassemble binaries. Alternative possibilities: React Native, Flutter.
Is pixiv still actively maintained?▴
Maintenance status: Active (5% abandonment risk). Last shipped version was 26 days ago. The risk score combines time-since-last-update with Editor's Choice / curated featuring + user-base maturity adjustments.
How much would pixiv sell for?▴
Estimated acquisition value: $71.5M (marketplace range $53.5M – $93.0M). Calculated as 20× monthly revenue using the standard multiple for the detected monetization model + adjustments for age, rating quality and category demand. Calibrated against 2024-2026 Flippa / Acquire.com / MicroAcquire closed-deal medians.
When was pixiv last updated?▴
pixiv last shipped a new version on 2026-08-28 — less than a month ago. This is the date Apple / Google last accepted a new build, not a content-only push.
Who makes pixiv?▴
pixiv is published by pixiv Inc. on the Apple App Store. See the full publisher portfolio (other apps by the same developer) via the More by developer block on the product page above.
What is pixiv's BU Score?▴
pixiv has a BU Score of 74/100 (Strong). The score combines App Store rating, ratings count, monetization model and revenue signals calibrated against founder-verified MRR anchors. See the BU Score formula.